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[0:00] So we are looking at prophecy. Jesus is predicting the future.

[0:11] You know, the Chinese say that it's very difficult to prophesy, especially about the future. That was a joke. Not very good.

[0:23] Dr. Charles Ryrie, who taught at Dallas Theological Seminary for many, many years, Dr. Ryrie points out that by the law of chance, for one person to achieve 100 accurate prophecies without errors in sequence would take 200 billion Earths populated with 400 billion people to achieve such a thing.

[0:58] What are the chances of one person getting 100 right in a row without error? I'll calculate 200 billion Earths by 400 billion people each, and you come up with the chances.

[1:11] Yet, the Bible records over 300 prophecies accurately fulfilled at the first coming of Jesus Christ.

[1:25] Over 300. What are the chances? Now, in Mark chapter 13, he who has fulfilled over 300 prophecies in his life now gives himself prophecy of what will come after him.

[1:46] So, how accurate is Jesus? Is he a prophet we can trust? Does what he predicts come true?

[2:02] Is he someone we can trust, in other words? Does he not just simply get 5 out of 10 right? See, the Old Testament says if a prophet even gets one wrong, he's fallen.

[2:21] Jesus makes several predictions, several prophecies. This will happen, this will happen, this will happen, this will happen. Is he true?

[2:31] Now, some of these prophecies he makes are general. There will be war. There will be tribulation. Okay. Got it. Anybody can probably say that. But he also makes some very specific prophecies.

[2:46] Like every stud of that temple will come down. What are the chances of that being born? So, in Mark 13, as we've been walking through so far, we've seen Jesus making prophecies.

[3:03] He makes predictions. First, he predicted in verse 2 that the temple would be destroyed. Not just destroyed, but leveled. Not one stone left on another. And in 70 AD, that prophecy was fulfilled to the letter.

[3:19] Unusual for prophecy to be fulfilled with such literal specificity. Did I get it? Did I get it? Halfway through, I wasn't sure.

[3:30] Because the way it came about, it didn't seem. Because in 70 AD, when Rome came in to surround Jerusalem and come to destroy the temple, they burned it.

[3:43] They burned it. And Titus, in fact, the general leading the thing, wanted to preserve the temple. He got all the gold out of the temple first, and he wanted to kind of make it into his own temple.

[3:56] But his daddy, who was emperor, said, no, burn it. And then another order came, as it was still burning, that said to him, now I want you to take every stone now.

[4:11] Level. So it appeared that at first of all, Jesus' prophecy wouldn't be fulfilled. Yeah, the temple would be destroyed, but not every stone. And then the daddy emperor says, no, every stone.

[4:26] And as I read last time, Josephus talked about how when you visit Jerusalem after 70 AD, you couldn't find any evidence that anyone would ever, ever live there.

[4:38] It was so decimated. So, is Jesus a prophet who is true? Yes. In fact, in verse 30, later in Mark 13, he tells us that these things will happen within one generation, which is 40 years.

[4:56] Jesus died, said this in 30 AD. Titus comes in 70 AD. About 40 years. To the day. Then, in verse 5, Jesus predicts some general things.

[5:09] He says, these are false signs. In other words, don't be alarmed. Be on your guard. There will come deceivers. There will be tragedies.

[5:20] There will be wars, and rumors of wars. Excuse me. Thing in my throat. There will be earthquakes. There will be famines. These things will happen, but don't be alarmed.

[5:33] Though they are alarming things, they seem like, boy, this could be the end. Every war we've seen are horrible. Earthquakes lead devastation.

[5:45] Famines, we see people dying. These are tragic things. He doesn't say, don't have compassion on those things, but he does say, don't be alarmed. These are going to happen. And in fact, these are not the end.

[5:59] Those are signs of the beginning. They're not signs of the end. Because remember, the disciples said, what will be the sign when we know this temple is going to fall down? That's not it. And then he goes on in verse 9, he talks about, disciples will suffer for the gospel.

[6:13] You will preach. You will be delivered over. You will stand trial. But this gospel must be preached first. And when you stand, stand before governors and kings.

[6:26] Do not worry about what you will say. In the intervening time between when you're arrested and you will stand before the king. Remember, Paul was arrested. It was years before he actually stood before Caesar.

[6:39] He said, don't worry about what you're going to say. Because in that very hour, the Holy Spirit will give you the word. And speak through you. He said, don't worry. I am with you.

[6:52] Again, these things that Jesus is predicting, even though they're general, they were fulfilled in the book of Acts, and they're still being fulfilled today. Then when we come to verse 14, we have a dramatic change.

[7:09] We go from a very general predictions about these things will happen, you will suffer in these ways, to a very specific, detailed prediction.

[7:23] But when you see this, it changes from, don't be alarmed, be on your guard. It changes from that to, when you see this, run!

[7:39] flee! flee! Get out! Don't stick around! Suddenly from, these are happening, don't be worried, God's with you, to, when you see this, do not mess around.

[8:01] In other words, big change. Maybe, a sign? You see this specific thing happen, in this specific place, run!

[8:18] Don't even go down, don't even go down, and get your coat, don't even go into, if you're on the roof, come down, don't go back in the house, get out! If you're out in the field, don't go back to get your coat, because the army's coming, and you don't want to be here when they get there.

[8:36] Okay? That's, that's the change. Problem! Verse 14, we come to several things, that are difficult.

[8:47] It seems to raise more questions than it answers. Jesus mentions this, abomination of desolation. What is that? Then he talks about, standing where it ought not.

[9:04] Where is that? And then he says, oh, let the reader understand. Understand which part? So we've got questions.

[9:16] Kind of like, okay. So, so, so, you put all these together, it gets a little bit more complicated. Got a little bit. So we're going to be cautious.

[9:29] When I was in seminary, came out of seminary, I had it all figured out. I got the charts, pictures, you know, the lines, drew the line right through the text there. Oh, no, this changes to that.

[9:40] When I had to preach 20 years ago through the gospel of Matthew, and I came to chapter 24, which talks about these same events, my theology blew up.

[9:52] Because I couldn't draw the line. I had to let Jesus say what he would say. And not read into it. So we're going to do the same thing. So, it might blow up something.

[10:06] It might be little explosions. That's okay. We're going to try to be honest with Scripture. We're going to be careful with Scripture. And I'm not going to try to go too far.

[10:16] Okay. Okay. I'm going to let you know this is my opinion. Okay. And when I'm over here and saying this is my opinion, don't write it down. But when we're talking about what does the word say, what can we be clear about?

[10:31] Okay. We'll do that. Okay. With me? Even the most skilled scholars confess that this is one of the most difficult texts in all the Gospels.

[10:45] So, come to verse 14. Dramatic change from general prophecy to very specific. We come to the puzzle. As I call it in the outline, what is the abomination?

[10:57] Jesus warns his disciples of a coming specific historical disaster. So, what I want to do is offer to you two observations to help us understand what Jesus is saying here.

[11:11] First, I want to make an observation about the background in which Jesus is speaking when he refers to this abomination of desolation. Where does that come from? What does he mean by that?

[11:22] And then I want us to look more technically at the text and just make another observation about the event itself. What does Jesus say about it? What can we know about it?

[11:33] Just observe the facts. Then we'll take a gentle stab at interpreting. So, first observation, what is this abomination?

[11:48] First of all, Jesus relates it back to the prophecies of Daniel. Now, okay, you read Mark chapter 4, 13 verse 14, and you see no reference to Daniel there, right?

[11:59] So, where do I get that? Well, I get it in the parallel passage, Matthew 24, 14, where Matthew is recording the same sermon of Jesus.

[12:11] He clarifies and adds that when Jesus says, when you see the abomination of desolation, Matthew adds, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, then flee.

[12:23] Okay? So, that's where I get it. So, Mark doesn't say that. Mark was the first gospel written. Matthew writes a few years later. I bet Matthew said to Mark, said, Mark, you should have included this.

[12:36] That's why Matthew's gospel is longer than Mark, because he had a lot of, Mark, you should have, Mark, you didn't put your mark. And Mark's saying, I just was following Peter's servants.

[12:47] I'm just, you know, way off. Write your own gospel. All right. And then Luke comes in a little later and says, Matthew, you forgot? You know.

[12:58] Thirty years later, John comes in and says, guys, I forgot this. So, anyway. So, yeah, four gospels, four different perspectives. Clarification. They're writing about the same thing, so what's helpful is when you compare the gospels, you can get more clarification.

[13:12] An important principle of interpreting scripture is let scripture interpret scripture. So, when I see a phrase here, I go over here.

[13:25] Oh, it's over here, too. Help me under, scripture begins to help me clarify what it means. Okay? So, that's where we go. Before we get to Daniel, first, let's define some words.

[13:38] First of all, this word abomination. What's an abomination? That's a word we don't use today, particularly. You might hear it every once in a while. What's an abomination? An abomination is something that's detestable, that's appalling, that's repulsive, something that is hated.

[13:57] In the Old Testament, it often referred to something that was unclean. So, to eat unclean food is an abomination. It's a repulsive.

[14:10] It often was also related to idols. So, something that was replacing God, an idol of some kind was replacing God. That's an abomination.

[14:22] That's a repulsive thing. God can't be replicated in an image. He doesn't even have just one name. One name can't define who he is. He's got all these names.

[14:34] Because you can't capture God in a box. He's too big. Bigger than that. Not in a picture. He's bigger than that. So, that's abomination.

[14:44] And then, it's abomination that causes a desolation. So, desolation means to be devastated, to be deserted, to be abandoned, which leads to despair and anguish.

[14:56] So, this phrase, abomination of desolation, means some kind of detestable, appalling thing that leads to and causes a desolation, which is a devastating effect, which is a abandon.

[15:15] Okay? Now, this phrase comes from Daniel. So, we need to discover what Daniel has to say. As I said, Matthew 24, the parallel text, says that when you see this abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel.

[15:31] So, that leads us back to Daniel. Three times, Daniel the prophet uses this full phrase, abomination of desolation.

[15:42] There are other texts in Daniel where he uses one of the phrases, alone, desolation or abomination, but three texts where he uses both terms together.

[15:54] We can look at just those three texts. So, in Daniel 9, 27, Daniel 11, 31, and Daniel 12, 11, he uses this phrase, abomination of desolation.

[16:08] So, we're going to go and look at Daniel. And we're going to flop. Okay? I'm not going to answer every question yet, because I don't have an answer for every question that you have for Daniel.

[16:20] But we're going to pull from it what is clear. Okay? So, first look at Daniel 9, 24 to 27.

[16:34] Daniel, you will find Daniel after all the big prophets. You'll find him after Isaiah, after Jeremiah, after Ezekiel, all those big ones. You open the middle of your body, you ought to see those guys.

[16:45] They just keep going to the right after Ezekiel is Daniel. Can't find that? We go to the beginning of your Bible, Bible contents and find the page number. That works.

[16:56] Yeah, so. Got a few Bible, got the page number, show it out. 7, 47. 7, 47? Like the jet? Yep. Alright. Page 7, 47 in your jet Bible.

[17:07] I mean, your, you are. Daniel 9, 24 to 37. This is the first time it's used. This is in Daniel's vision of 70 weeks or literally in Hebrew 70 sevens.

[17:24] So a week is a prophetic language code for years. So a week has seven days. Prophetically speaking about a year each.

[17:35] So seven years. 70 sevens, which would be 490 years. Okay? It's giving. 70 weeks are decreed for the holy city. speaking to Daniel who was a captive in Babylon.

[17:50] Remember? Jerusalem was destroyed. When we were carried off into Babylon, Daniel was one of the exiles. Daniel was also a, like Joseph, was like the next in line to be king, but would never be king.

[18:08] An advisor to the king. He was an interpreter, like Joseph, of dreams. So we see that all the way through Daniel. That's why people love Daniel because it's got all these mysteries in it.

[18:19] By the way, I looked up one of my old Bibles that were in the back, and at the back of Daniel it had all these charts and like, cool pictures. You know, so it's like, oh, Daniel, let's see the pictures of him. I like charts.

[18:32] They're cool. Just sometimes they're too, yeah, anyway. So Daniel, so let's look at this. Daniel 9, 24. Seventy weeks are decreed about your people.

[18:43] He's speaking to Daniel. Your people are the Jews. Seventy weeks are decreed about your Jewish people and your holy city, Jerusalem, to finish. Now watch this. What's going to happen here? How big this is.

[18:55] To finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and profit, and to anoint a most holy place, or it could be to anoint a most holy person.

[19:17] So, that sounds pretty big, right? All those things, align all those things in, to put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity, bring in righteousness. That kind of sounds like Jesus. Right?

[19:27] Okay? So, okay. Wow. Okay, that's the context. So, verse 25. So, know therefore, and understand, that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem, remember, they're in Babylon.

[19:42] The temple has been destroyed. Jerusalem has been destroyed. Historically, remember, they're going to come back from Babylon. Remember, there's these guys named Zerubbabel and Ezra and Nehemiah who are commissioned by the Babylonian king to come back and rebuild the city, rebuild the temple, and Nehemiah to rebuild the walls.

[20:06] Remember? So, he's talking about a historical thing from the day, from the time, where'd I go? From the going out of the word, the decree of the king to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an unanointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks.

[20:24] So, seven times seven, 49 years. Then, he's going to talk, so in a lot of detail there, we just kind of know the beginning time frame. Then, for 62 weeks, it shall be built again with squares and mow, but in a troubled time.

[20:40] So, we've got a period of seven weeks, and then we've got a period of 69 weeks, which totals, excuse me, 62 weeks, 62 plus seven is 69, leaves one week left over there.

[20:54] Verse 26, after the 62 weeks, an anointed one, literally a Messiah, shall be cut off and shall have nothing.

[21:05] And the people of the prince who is to come, that's the bad guy, the prince who is to come is from Rome, the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war, desolations are decreed, its end shall come with a flood, sounds like absolutely devastating, for the temple and the city.

[21:30] Verse 27, and he, still the bad guy here, the prince, he shall make a strong covenant with the many for one week, seven years, and for half of the week, three and a half years, he shall put an end to the sacrifice and offering, and on the wing of abomination shall come one who makes desolate, until the decree in is poured out on the desolate or.

[22:00] So on the wing of abominations comes one who makes desolate, abomination of desolation, the wing of abominations, plural, many abominations, at the end of those abominations shall come one, a person, who will make devastation, who will make abandonment, who will make desolation.

[22:30] Okay? So that's our first reference. we see that in the first 69 weeks in verses 24-25, the temple gets destroyed and it gets rebuilt.

[22:42] Then after the 69 weeks, it says that the Messiah is cut off, Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed, the sacrifices stop. So, just a comment on that, all of those details fit first century 70 AD Titus coming and destroying the temple.

[23:07] Sacrifices stopped three and a half years before that. Just enough. It fits the first century. Doesn't mean that's the only fitting of it, but it does fit the first century.

[23:20] Now let's go to Daniel 11. Daniel 11 toward the end, he's talking about the kingdom of Greece, Daniel talks about the world empires, he talks about the first world empire during Daniel's time was the kingdom of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon.

[23:42] David lived through the end of the empire rule of Babylon into the next kingdom of the Persian and the Medes. Daniel continued to work for both kingdoms, so he took both.

[23:55] So you have Babylon, then you have the Persian Medes, then you have guess who comes after the Medes? Alexander the Great. The kingdom of Greece.

[24:07] Alexander actually read Daniel and knew it was about the end. Fascinating. Kingdom of Greece, after the kingdom of Greece comes Rome, the rise and fall of Rome, which brings us to the first century.

[24:21] Daniel had predicted all of that before hell. Which is why a guy like Alexander can read it and go, whoa, that's me. I'm the guy from Greece.

[24:34] I'm the one that no one can stand before. Of course, he didn't last long, right? So, Daniel 11 is still talking about that kingdom of Greece and how, yeah, the first guy didn't last that long, and then after that there's other guys and it kind of toward the end of that kingdom before Rome took over, and actually just shortly before Rome took over, comes this man from Rome who's actually, excuse me, from Greece, who's really not Greece, he's not a legitimate king, his name was Antiochus IV Epiphanes, he came in 167 BC, and so in Daniel 11 21 it says, in his place, in the place of the other ruler, shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given, he shall come without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries, so he's an outsider, he's a Syrian, his name is Antiochus Epiphanes, you can read about it, so he arises, that's the end of the Roman kingdom, let's get down to verse 31 where it concerns what we're talking about, forces from him, this false

[25:44] Greek emperor, forces from him, shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate, there you go, so we have another phrase, second time, abomination that makes desolate, and you can read historically about this Antiochus Epiphanes who came in, who did profane, didn't destroy the temple, but he defiled it, he profaned it, he set up an abomination, he set up, and he actually brought in an altar of Zeus, a statue of Zeus, he actually put it right on the altar of burnt offering, in the holy place, bowed in worship, bowed to Zeus as his god, abomination, that creates desolation, but within three years, guess what happened, the Maccabees, Maccabees said, uh-uh, we take him back over, that's kind of a street translation, and within three years they did, they got the temple back, they restored the temple, they restored the worship, we have the story of

[26:59] Hanukkah that comes out at that time, Maccabeean revolt, shortly after that Rome comes, okay, so, now, finally, our last reference is in Daniel 12, Daniel 12 starts this way, look at 12-1, at that time, so at the time that we've just talked about in chapter 11, where the kingdom of Greece is winding down, you know, it's at the end of its, you know, it's kind of barely standing anymore, Rome's about to take over, so at that time he says, shall arise Michael, who's Michael, turns out he's the archangel like, he says, shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people, again, Daniel's people are the Jews, who is the prince of Israel, well, the spiritual being prince is Michael the archangel, okay, that's why he's the strength of

[28:04] God, you have Gabriel, the archangel, who is the voice of God, you have Michael, who is the strength of God, so he is in charge of the Jewish people, behind the scenes, in other words, and there shall be, now watch this, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since, there was a nation till that time, that sounds like what Mark, what we saw in Mark 13 19, there shall come a great tribulation such as has never been before, since creation, and never will be again, Daniel referring to another great time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time, watch this, but at that time, during that time of trouble, your people, the Jews, shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book, book, book of Revelation talks about books, books are open, verse 2, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth, in other words, dead people, shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting content, well the

[29:20] New Testament talks about resurrection too, doesn't it? and Jesus is the first to rise, and then there are those who follow him in resurrection, so again, setting context, sounds like coming to the time of the Messiah, so now go down Daniel 12 to verse 11, so Daniel wants to know when's the time, when is this happening, when's this great tribulation, verse 11, and from the time that the regular birth offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1290 days, get your calculator out and divide 1290 by 365, what will you come up with?

[30:11] 6.5 something, something, something, something, something, approximately three and a half years, Daniel talks about three and a half years, several times, now it's not exactly three and a half years because the calendar that Daniel was working with, and then when Rome came and changed the calendar over, which we follow, which isn't accurate because every four years we have to do what?

[30:40] We have to add a day because it's not accurate, so trying to translate it from our calendar, which is not accurate, to their calendar, which was a lunar calendar, we're not going to get exact numbers.

[30:55] And that's the other thing about prophecy, don't get hung up on finding the exact detailed numbers. It's really not about, it's really about the wow factor, about the impact, so generally three and a half years is going to happen between when the sacrifices stop and the abomination of desolation is set up.

[31:22] So, we have 1290 days, three and a half years, when does this happen? May I suggest to you that before 70 AD, in AD 66, four years before, was the revolt, the Jewish revolt, against Rome.

[31:44] Okay? And they won the initial battle against the D troops, not the A team, but the D troops of Rome. After they did that, no more D troops, A troops are coming.

[32:00] Okay? So they won the first battle, but after that it was downhill. In 67, three and a half years before the desolation of the temple, Jewish zealots took over the temple.

[32:16] These are not priests, these are not people qualified to be in the temple, these are zealots, they are, what would you call them modern day? Guerrilla warfare, guys?

[32:31] Using some terrorist techniques, okay? Not maybe to the level we talked about today, but in those days, yes, they are willing to kill and be killed for the cause.

[32:43] They're kamikazes, they're, you know, they're military Jews, which is interesting because Jesus chose one of his apostles who was a zealot. Interesting. It was one guy who was armed.

[32:58] I'm not making a point of that, just interesting. The zealots took over the temple, and let me read some excerpts from Josephus, who was the first century historian, who was there before the temple was destroyed, saw the temple destroyed and recorded it, and saw afterwards Josephus, who was a Jew, but was working for the Romans to write the history of the Romans.

[33:21] But Josephus also kind of wrote his own stuff, too. So in a book called The Jewish War, Josephus writes about how the Jewish forces won an impressive victory over the 12th Legion, commanded by Cescius Gallus in November of 66.

[33:38] Many persons in Jerusalem, however, recognized that eventually the zealot forces would suffer inevitable defeat, and those who were realistic began leaving the city in droves, apparently unheeded according to Josephus.

[33:55] No efforts were marshaled to frustrate desertions from the city until the spring of 68. So in other words, in 66, the Romans had already surrounded the city of Jerusalem.

[34:10] They've begun their siege, but they haven't closed ranks yet because they're letting people go out. But by 68, nobody gets out.

[34:22] Now it's stepping up. That's the picture. Christians in Jerusalem would have no difficulty leaving the city unless they delayed their departure until a relatively late stage in the conflict.

[34:36] So it matches what Jesus says. When you see, get out. Because you don't know how much time you have, but you may not have another day. Who knows when Titus is going to say, close ranks.

[34:50] You know, he's on a good day. He's like, yeah, let me go. You don't know that tomorrow is not. Uh-uh. We're going to have fun with you.

[35:00] Josephus found the fulfillment of Daniel in the events of AD 66-7. He was convinced what he saw and recorded was a fulfillment of Daniel.

[35:14] He says, literally, he says, in the same manner, Daniel also wrote about the empire of the Romans and that Jerusalem would be taken and the temple laid waste. He refers to an ancient prophecy concerning the desecration of the temple, watch this now, by Jewish hands and found its fulfillment in a series of villainous acts committed by the zealots in the temple precincts from the period of November 67 to the spring of 68.

[35:46] During this period, the zealots moved into and occupied the temple area. They allowed persons who had committed crimes to roam about freely in the Holy of Holies.

[35:58] And they perpetrated murder within the temple itself. These acts of sacrilege, abomination, were climaxed in the winter of 67 to 68 by the farcical investor of the clown Fani as high priest.

[36:15] In other words, they set up a false priest, high priest. Somebody who was not qualified, who was not from the sons of Aaron, who was an outsider, they just set up their own man to be the quote unquote high priest.

[36:26] Okay? A guy named Fanny. That's an unfortunate name. It was in response to the specific action that the retired high priest, Ananus, with tears lamented, it would have been far better for me to have died before I had seen the house of God laden with such abominations and its unapproachable and hallowed spaces crowded with the feet of murder.

[36:55] Jews. Jewish Christians who had met in the porches of the temple from the earliest days would have found this spectacle no less offensive.

[37:13] It seems probable that they recognized this false high priest, the appalling sacrilege, usurping a position which is not his.

[37:23] By the way, that's a quote from Jerusalem. He was an appalling sacrilege, usurping a position which is not his. What does Jesus say in Mark 13? When you see the abomination of desolation standing where it ought not be.

[37:45] When the Christians saw this, undoubtedly, in response to Jesus' warning 40 years earlier, 38 years earlier, when you see it, flee.

[37:58] Josephus tells us that no Christians were killed in this revolt because the Christians were gone. The Christians were gone.

[38:10] They went to Pella. So, okay, what is this abomination of desolation? we looked at the three places in Daniel.

[38:21] I know there's a lot of stuff there that can be confusing. I want to simplify it. If I can, just to simplify it, what is common to each of those three references?

[38:32] What happens in each of those three references that are called an abomination of desolation? they may have been different events, but what's common to each abomination of desolation is two things.

[38:44] One, the temple is defiled. It's either defiled or destroyed. Sometimes it was destroyed and then rebuilt, right? Sometimes it was just defiled and not destroyed.

[38:58] Secondly, the other common trait is the sacrifices stopped. There was a stopping. Sometimes that was temporary. Sometimes that was just a stop and then they rebuilt the temple or the Maccabees came in and they restored the temple.

[39:14] But in each case, there was a stopping of the regular stopping, which was the Jewish way of dealing with God, right? That's how they approached God.

[39:26] That's how they dealt with their sin. That's how they worshipped him. So, when Jesus is talking about the destruction of the temple, you've got to understand, this is the end of the old order of the Old Testament.

[39:41] And in the old days, it was an end for maybe 300, 400 years, and then it would get rebuilt. After 70 AD, no rebuilding. in what?

[39:55] 50 years? We're going to come up on 2,000 years of temple not being rebuilt. Now, you can go to Jerusalem and you can find a little shop where they are rebuilding all of the stuff. They've rebuilt the candelabra, they're doing the ephod, they're doing all the stuff.

[40:10] The Jews there are planning to retake the temple and rebuild it. the problem is there's a mosque there, literally on top of the Holy of Holies because they consider it a holy place as well.

[40:28] So, but for 2,000 years it has not been rebuilt. Do you not think that's a loud, loud, loud statement?

[40:40] Yes. Now, can God have it rebuilt? Absolutely. Absolutely. I don't know why because why would he go back to animal sacrifices?

[40:52] Okay, theologically it makes no sense. I don't think it's going to happen. But I'm not going to die for that position. It could because God could in his own wisdom have a mysterious reason for doing it because he wants to deal with the Jews.

[41:08] Okay? Okay? I'll give God the freedom of you. As if I have the reason. So I will concede that. But theologically it makes absolutely no sense.

[41:22] Not because Christ has fulfilled it all. But I think it speaks loudly that we've been 2,000 years and still nothing. And it looks like there's no I don't know.

[41:36] Okay. So second observation. First observation, Jesus is referring back to these things of Daniel. So what are the abomination of desolation has to do with the defilement of the temple and it has to do with the stoppage of sacrifices.

[41:50] Those all seem to fit the time frame of 66 AD when Fanny was put in place and stood where he ought not to stand among the other abominations that were going on around him.

[42:07] Three and a half years later when Titus comes in and the 10th legion of the Roman army comes in and devastates everything. And time fits.

[42:21] There is such a thing as called as the double fulfillment of prophecy. So it could be that's the first fulfillment in 70 AD. Could absolutely be God willing.

[42:32] He wants another ultimate great tribulation and another antichrist coming into the temple and so on. Could be.

[42:43] I don't know. I'm not going to worry about you. I'm just not going to worry about you. You know why? The three things are certain about the future.

[42:54] One, Jesus is coming back. The scriptures are absolutely clear about that. Two, there will be a resurrection. They're absolutely clear about that. Not about when, but there will be.

[43:05] And three, there will be a judgment. Those three things are absolutely clear. And you'll find in our doctrinal statement at Little Long Church, those are the only things we say. We don't tell you when the tribulations come and we don't tell you when the arm, because those things are debatable and we can have charity and we can disagree on that stuff.

[43:30] We're just going to agree about what's clear. Okay, so now we come back to Mark 13, verse 14. I want you to observe some things. Here's a second observation. Whatever this abomination of desolation is, it is this.

[43:45] It is a specific historical event in Judea. It is not worldwide. It is limited to this little region of Israel called Judea.

[44:04] So look at verse 14. Notice these things. First of all, notice that it's seen by the disciples. He says to them, verse 14, when you see, that implies that the disciples listening to Jesus will see, 40 years later, this event.

[44:25] It is seen by the disciples. It is a specific time. And it is in specific place because he says, when you see this abomination which the celestial standing where it ought not be, let the reader understand.

[44:37] Then let those who are in where? In Judea flee. Not just in any general town, but in the region of Judea, which is the region in which the city of Jerusalem is part.

[44:54] it's the southern region of Israel. It's a specific place. It has a limited geographically.

[45:05] God has determined this. God controls this. God is in control of history and determines what he will do. Secondly, notice that it leads to an urgent escape.

[45:16] And catch the urgency of this escape. He says, when you see the abomination of desolation standing, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

[45:30] Let the one who is on the housetop not go down nor enter his house to take anything out. Just come down and get out of town. Let not the one who is in the field turn back to take his cloak.

[45:42] You don't have time. See the urgency, urgency, urgency. And then the danger of it, he talks about, alas for the women who are pregnant and those who are nursing infants in those days. Oh, woe for them.

[45:53] How horrible it will be. They will be vulnerable. It will be extremely dangerous for them. And then he says, pray that it doesn't happen in winter. Because in winter you're going to have limitations about where you can go hide in the mountains, where you can escape to.

[46:15] So there's an urgency. Seek safety. Flee. Run. But please note this is limited. It's not the end. If this were the end of the world, what would be the point of saying, run?

[46:33] Where are you going to go? Because when the end comes, there's nowhere to hide. It's the end. It's the revelation account of them saying, just come and give me.

[46:47] Jesus. I will not repent, just let the rocks fall on you. Lord, come and get me Jesus. You read that in the book of Revelation. They're just, I won't repent, but I know it's you, so just come and kill me.

[47:01] Because it's the end. There's nowhere for me to go. This is not bad. Because you have time to run. You have time to flee. In other words, it's a temporary, limited event.

[47:12] And he talks about standing. Now, watch this in verse 14. When you see the abomination of desolation standing, watch this, standing where, not it, where he.

[47:30] When you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not. In other words, it's not an it. It's not a statue. It's not an idol.

[47:41] It's a person. In fact, Mark goes out of his way to grammatically, so in grammar, the word abomination, which is the subject, is in the neuter case.

[47:57] So you would expect the verb that is telling the action of that subject to be in the neuter case. It's not. It's in the masculine. And it's probably why Mark says, let the reader understand.

[48:11] Don't change it. Because remember how Mark was written? It was written to be read to a congregation. So let the reader, not readers, but the reader who's reading to the congregation, when you see that in the Greek, by the way, don't change it.

[48:31] I wrote that on purpose. Even though it's neuter, I'm putting it in the masculine because I want you to understand it's a person, not a person. I think that's what is going on here.

[48:45] It's a person. Well, in 67 AD, what happened? The people who ought not to be there were in the holy place.

[48:58] And then a person was set up as the high priest who ought not to be there. when you see that, run.

[49:12] Which is exactly what the Christians did in AD 66. If they waited to AD 68, you want to get out. If it's, is that the fulfillment?

[49:26] It's at least one fulfillment. And then thirdly, I want you to notice it's an unparalleled distress. As he says in verse 19, you have all this urgency, run and run and get out and last for the pregnant women.

[49:41] Why? Verse 19, for in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now. It never will be. This is unprecedented.

[49:52] It's unparalleled. Kind of like what Daniel said in Daniel 12. 1. A time of distress has not been like any other. Which again is going to be repeated in Revelation.

[50:04] Well, there's another time of is that another time or is that this time? Is it a hard prophecy? So be careful. So the siege of Jerusalem from 66 to 70 while they were, these zealots locked themselves up in the temple because they thought they would be safe there.

[50:28] We're going to the temple because God will protect his temple. so they barricaded themselves into the temple for those three and a half years. No sacrifices.

[50:43] They're waiting for God to save them. Does God save them? No. Josephus records what happens during that time of the siege while they're locked in the temple area.

[50:54] He says it was a time of enormous suffering. over one million people died. The rest were enslaved and tortured. During this time there was slaughter, famine, disease, salvation.

[51:08] Remember, there's a siege so they can't get out to get supplies. That's why the Romans take a long time to see if they wear them down, let them die off, let them kill themselves, which is what was happening.

[51:22] At the end, of course, the Romans burn down the walls and the temple to the ground. They enter and desecrate.

[51:33] In fact, the Roman soldiers came in and set up their own standards with a picture of an eagle above Caesar. They set it up while it's still burning before they took the rocks down.

[51:46] They set up in the Holy of Holies. They set that banner up and bow down to Caesar. another abomination of desolation. Interesting, Josephus tells us that no Christians were killed.

[52:05] All flee before the sea. Coincidence? Probably not. Didn't Jesus say? What did he say to do?

[52:18] Stand up to them? No. No. Flee. One more point.

[52:29] The parallel passage. This sermon of Jesus about last things, his prophecy, is recorded in three gospels. It's recorded here in Mark 13, it's recorded in Matthew 24, and it's recorded in Luke 21.

[52:44] All of them follow the same language, all of them follow the same sequence of events, but they have some different details. Mark was written first, then Matthew, that's why Matthew adds some stuff.

[53:00] Luke again, written later, written to a different audience. Matthew's writing to Jews, so he includes all kinds of Jewish references. Luke is written to Gentiles.

[53:12] I'm not going to talk about Book of Daniel. But listen to the way Luke describes it. just like in Matthew 13, Luke quotes Jesus saying, you will be hated by all for my name's sake, but not a hair of your head will perish by your endurance, you will gain your lives.

[53:29] But when you see, now here's the point, instead of saying abomination of desolation, he says, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.

[53:45] Then he goes on and talks about just like in Mark 13, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let those who are out in the country enter in. Enter it, for these are days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written.

[54:00] There's Luke's little reference to Daniel that isn't mentioned in. It's to fulfill all that was written. Again, same words from Mark 13, alas for women who are pregnant, and for those who are nursing infants in those days.

[54:13] Why? For there will be a great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, which is exactly what happened, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles.

[54:28] How long was that time in the Gentiles? So far, 900, or 1950 years. So far.

[54:41] Well, a thousand years with the Lord is like a day, right? Or a thousand years to us is like a couple of days. We're going to go three and a half days, right? Sorry.

[54:54] Don't press. So, in other words, what Luke clarifies for us, when he's telling us the same stuff with a little bit different language for us Gentiles, who don't get the Old Testament references, for us to get it in, you know, our language.

[55:11] Luke clarifies that this abomination of desolation is connected with the Roman armies of 70 AD.

[55:23] When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, when the siege begins, get out. And if so, then it is likely that the sign that the disciples asked for back in verse 4, what will be the sign that these, Jesus predicted the destruction of the temple, what will be the sign that this will be accomplished?

[55:48] If so, the sign of the destruction that the temple is destroyed is this abomination of desolation. When you see this sign, when you see the temple defiled and the sacrifices stopped, run.

[56:05] That's your sign. You've got little time. You've got little time. At least to get at. So, the sign could be those zealots in the temple three and a half years before Titus comes in with the army.

[56:27] Could be ultimately they're putting in the false high priest in the holy place. Could be. It fits. Is that it?

[56:39] Book closed. We're all done. I don't know. Could happen again. There are times in the scriptures where there are double fulfillments of prophecy.

[56:55] It could have been the first. There could be another even bigger. people. Perhaps that's what 2 Thessalonians, the man of lawlessness who should come, the antichrist who will come.

[57:12] Leaves it over. I'm not going to draw lines and draw charts. Well, I'm going to draw little charts. But, you know, more general. With the pictures. Okay, so all this is interesting.

[57:25] Or maybe it's not. And if it's not, sorry. But for many of you, this is probably interesting and fascinating. I would want to know the intents. I want to know how accurate scripture is.

[57:38] But, can we apply this? What difference does this make? What have you learned about all this? Well, let me offer you quickly four truths to consider. One, God is serious about his warning.

[57:55] If you do not repent and believe the gospel, you will experience judgment. Two, God is in control of history. He determines when.

[58:07] He determines who. He determines how. He will raise up a nation. He will take down a nation. He determines. until their time is, quote unquote, fulfilled.

[58:25] Three, there are times for Christians to flee. Now, for the most part, we are told as Christians to stand firm. Right?

[58:36] Put on your armor. Stand firm. Absolutely. Against Satan, stand firm and resist him and he will flee from you. But there are other times Christians must flee.

[58:52] Not stand and battle. 1 Corinthians 6 talks about your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. By the way, the question was asked this morning. You know, that temple of the old temple was defiled.

[59:05] Is there any way we can apply that today to our temple today being defiled? Yes! The temple today is first Jesus, then his body, which are the living stones, remember, put together as the temple of God.

[59:20] We together are the temple. But then in 1 Corinthians 6, Paul talks about every Christian has the Holy Spirit living in them and they are a temple. And you can define that.

[59:31] So he talks about be holy. Gonna fall, gonna stay in yourself, got it? Don't talk about perfection.

[59:44] But live to be holy. Which means depend on the Holy Spirit. Okay? And so in 1 Corinthians 6, he talks about here's one way that you protect your Holy Temple.

[60:01] When you come across immorality, pornea, guys, porn, okay, I'm gonna fight it. Right?

[60:15] When it comes to that, run! Okay? Like Joseph? And the wife saying, lie with me?

[60:26] What does he do? Leaves his coat behind and gets out of there. When it comes to certain things, you run! Because you cannot fight it. Guys, you cannot fight it.

[60:37] Run from him, run. Run from the temptation for sexual involvement. Run! If you can't win, it will break you down. He talks about in 1 Corinthians 10, run from idolatry.

[60:52] Don't mess with it. Don't even mess with it. Run from idols. And idols, by the way, is anything that we use to replace God. Anything we serve higher than God. For me, years ago, it became healing from depression.

[61:06] That was my idol. That's all I wanted. I wanted healing from depression more than anything else. And when God showed me that I wanted it more than him, it broke me. Whoa!

[61:17] I've been an idolater. No wonder he wouldn't answer that thing. And then also, Matthew 3, John the Baptist tells us, there's one other thing you need to flee from.

[61:30] It's the wrath of God. Flee from the wrath of God. How do you flee from the wrath of God? Because, I don't know how I from God. Well, you flee by turning to him and repenting.

[61:41] That's how you flee. Because he is merciful and compassionate and forgiving. And to everyone who repents, he will forgive.

[61:52] You don't earn that, he just simply is a gracious God and that's what he wants. He wants you to turn to him. Finally, how do we apply it?

[62:05] Well, Jesus is the new temple. Like the old temple, he's the only way to God and he's the only way to deal with sin. But unlike the old temple, he didn't deal with it in an external way, he dealt with it by an internal way.

[62:19] He totally eradicated sin for us by taking our sins and burying the punishment on our behalf and then exchanging. Here, give me your sins.

[62:32] I'll give you my righteousness. Good deal. Good trade. God, That's our application.

[62:43] They're stabbing it. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for Jesus, who we can trust. His prophecies did come true, and are still coming true.

[62:58] We thank you, Lord, that even the specific prophecies of how the temple was destroyed, was literally fulfilling. And so we thank you, Lord, that we can trust what he says.

[63:11] Help us, Lord, to examine ourselves, to recognize we are the temple too, to recognize there are things we need to flee from that we are in danger if we try to stand.

[63:28] And Father, we thank you that we can trust you with history. We can trust you with what you're going to do in the future. We can trust you with our future of our own personal lives, with our families, with our businesses.

[63:41] We can trust you, Lord, with our church. We can trust you with our country. You ultimately are in control of all of that. And so help us in the meantime to honor our governors and honor our laws, but at the same time, more than that, oh, honor you.

[64:02]  We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.